My Birthday Party

Liz & Hailey frosting cupcakes

So, this post is more or less about FOOD :) I had a birthday back in March and with the help of some VERY SPECIAL friends put a birthday party on for myself. It was SO much fun! Not just the party, but the planning of the party. And most importantly, deciding what food we would be having! In my next post I will share all the wonderful recipes and ideas for the food, but this post will show a little bit of everything.

Putting on a party is SO much fun, but one of my first tips is......
...ask for help. It may sound cliche but it is so VERY true. I had my "committee", which was made up of my mom Linda, my friends Sara, Liz, Lael, Shelley, and Susan. I used them to bounce ideas off of, as well as the actual physical help I needed too. They were all indispensable and I could not have done it without them!

Food "bar", we served everything buffet style

Like I said before the fun was in the process of preparing for the party! My friend Liz kept us organized and on task. She outlined what needed to be done and when, with her handy-dandy checklist. It was wonderful! Anyone could look at the checklist and see what was done and what still needed to be done! Loved that!
Friday- Food prep; cutting, chopping, baking, and making!
Saturday- Make tartlets, frost cupcakes, plate food, make beverages, DECORATE, and then HAVE FUN!!

 The menu was a Baked Potato/Taco Bar, Hummus with veggies and rice crackers, Shelley's Sweet Relish with Cream Cheese on sliced baguette, Veggies with Cool Cucumber Dip, Chips and Salsa, and Sara's "Green Salad".

For beverages we had punch with a Kick (Gilligan's Island), Raspberry Ice Crystal Light, ice water, and BYO beer and wine.

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 And oh, the desserts!! I wanted a dessert buffet and wow, did we have one! It was overflowing with desserts and I tried everything and LOVED it all. We had Raspberry AND Peppermint Chocolate Truffles, Lemon Sugar Cookies, Key Lime and Lemon Mini Tartlets (heavenly), Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake (to die for!), Reindeer Feed, a 3-layer Vanilla birthday cake with cream cheese frosting, Funfetti cupcakes with yummy, teal blue frosting, and chocolate cake balls. WOW, so many choices, so little room in the stomach!

In progress....

 The decorating was probably the most challenging part. Mostly because we had to make it up as we went. With food you know what the end result will be, you're following a recipe! With decorating there was no recipe, only ideas! Our challenge was to turn my husband garage/shop(ie "man cave") into a confection of white, pink, teal, orange, yellow, and green. We used tissue paper flowers, LOTS of white tablecloths, colorful straws, and food to bring the color to the party.

We used long tables with white table cloths for the guests to sit at.

 We used LOTS of chalkboard signs to add some black and really make the colors standout, especially with the white tablesclothes.
The "tree" (below) was one of my favorite ideas! I took some corkscrew willow branches, tied them together with some twine, and then my husband (sweet guy that he is :) secured it into a Christmas tree stand! I wrapped the base in some old chiffon curtains and strung some white lights on it and then....

...my talented friend Sara hung crystals that came from an old chandelier (those came from my friend Lael:) and pictures of me (using wooden clothespins borrowed from my friend Shelly:)! The result was BEAUTIFUL, the pictures don't do it justice. It really was stunning and received a lot of compliments :)


In the above picture you can see the tables and I want to point out some ways we saved money. If you look closely you can see clear silverware in several containers on the tables. The containers are repurposed food cans, covered  in craft paper, added flowers, buttons, and ribbon and then put the silverware in them. We served the food buffet style and I really dislike it when I go through a buffet line and have to "juggle" my plate, napkin, and silverware :( So that led me to find a way to put the silverware and napkins on the tables! I looked for ways to re-purpose what I had on hand so it was FREE!

I wanted something that gave my guests an idea of what to expect, so when they came in the door they were greeted by this chalkboard sign. It and the stand it is on were loaned by my friend Shelly:) It 's hard to see in the picture, but it had a gold frame and went perfectly with the decor!

I wanted to be able to display the wonderful cards that people brought with them or sent because they couldn't come. You can see the string with cards hanging from it by clothespins. It was so fun to see the messages people wrote and for other people to be able to read them too. I asked the guests to use the back of the invitation to write their message on. This was really fun and I am so glad that some people did it!

You can see the tissue paper flowers and chalkboard signs that we used to accent with. My friend Lael wrote words that she thought described me on them:) Thank you Lael!

My mom Linda and Ron, luv you guys!!

 It was such an amazing experience, that I will never forget! I love that food, drinks, and love can bring people together!

A lot of my friends had never even met, and it was so great to have them all in the same place at the same time!

My sister-in-law Chris. Thanks for coming!!

 

Tara and Bonnie. Thanks girls!!

My friend Susan, who is amazing and inspires me everyday to reach for the stars, 

even if I can't see them! 

Thank you Susan for being such a great friend:)

My friends Jill & Melissa! You are great ladies!

Pete who can ALWAYS make me laugh!

My husband Gary with Chris and Megan, thanks for staying and play the Wi with us!

 

I want to say a special Thank You to my husband! He let me turn his "man cave" into a confection of frills and fuss.
Thank you for being patient with me and helping me put on my birthday party! I couldn't have done it without you!!
LOVE U!